Iranian security forces descended on demonstrations against the drying of Lake Oroumiyeh in Tabriz and Oroumiyeh in northwestern Iran on Saturday, making numerous arrests.

Lake Urmia (Orumieh) is a
salt lake in northwestern Iran near Turkey. The lake is between the provinces of
East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan, west of the southern portion of the
similarly shaped Caspian Sea. It is the largest lake inside Iran, and the third
salt water lake on earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km square
(2,000 mile square).

News outlets linked to ethnic and human rights activists as well as eyewitness reports indicate that security forces were on alert in various Azerbaijan cities in Iran and confronted the crowds with tear gas and batons.

According to HRANA (the Human Rights Activists News Agency), dozens of people were arrested. Some reports indicate that police used plastic bullets, which led to several injuries among protesters.

The Fars semi-official news agency confirmed the unrest but wrote that the demonstrators were rallied by "ethnic" groups, adding that the demonstrators numbered only about 50 people.